Doc Rivers not sure if Ben Simmons will play in 76ers' season-opener vs. Pelicans

Philadelphia 76ers All-Star guard Ben Simmons was ruled out of Friday's preseason finale at the Detroit Pistons, as he only reported to the club the previous Monday after he requested a trade.

Per Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers told reporters Monday he is going to "wait and see and watch" Simmons during practices before he decides if the 25-year-old will play in Wednesday's regular-season opener at the New Orleans Pelicans. 

"We've been together for three weeks, so we've established a good rhythm," Rivers said of his squad. "So the more he's been in, the more he does, especially when we're working on our offensive stuff earlier, because we've built from last year but we tweaked a lot of stuff. But it's easy to pick up — especially for him."

Simmons skipped the first two weeks of training camp in an attempt to earn his desired trade but returned to the 76ers after the club reportedly placed $8.25 million owed to him on Oct. 1 into an escrow account and threatened to drain fine money accumulated by Simmons during his holdout from that account. Rivers has said on multiple occasions he'd like to keep Simmons in his lineup despite the player's wish for a fresh start elsewhere.